


Goodbye John Smith

by AllTheFeels



Series: like rusting pennies [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Flashbacks, Grief, Hurt/Comfort, Jughead is a good friend, M/M, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 13:23:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13718604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTheFeels/pseuds/AllTheFeels
Summary: Archie cries until he can’t cry anymore, until a headache is pounding at his ears. He reaches for his phone and calls the only number he can think of in a time like this.





	Goodbye John Smith

Sometimes, it comes to him in flashes. Archie will be doing anything innocuous—this time, it was listening to Veronica and Betty chatter at lunch— and it all comes rushing back to him. Piece by earth shattering piece, it all comes back.

-

When Archie snuck into the cellar that night, Jason was standing, shirtless, in the middle of it. He was clutching two (quite large) bottles of vodka, and his face split into a grin when he saw the redhead.

“They’re on a fuckin’ business trip!” Jason hollered, raising both of the bottles and laughing.

“Hell yeah!” Archie shouted, as loudly as he pleased, because nobody was home and they could exist without fear.

Jason smiled, his cheeks red, and set down the bottles. For a second, fear flashed across his face, and then that smile was back. Sheepish, excited, nervous— it all showed from that smile of his.

-

Archie had practically sprinted to the bathroom. Sure, his excuse had been flimsy, and yes, Betty had done her whole “furrowed eyebrows lip pouting worried face”, but he was pretty sure that they wouldn’t come after him.

He sank the floor, looked at the chipped tiles, and let out a heaving breath. His chest rattled.

He began to sob.

-

“So this is your room,” Archie said, eyes flickering around the, quite frankly, massive bedroom, “It kind of makes you look pretentious as hell.”

Jason laughed, loud and hearty, before grabbing Archie’s hand and replying, “Yeah, I’d make it look the way I want it to, but I think my parents might kill me if I did.”

He pulled the other boy towards the bed, before stopping suddenly and turning to face Archie.

“You’re really...alright with all of this? The lying, the sneaking around. You’re okay with that?”

Archie knows what Jason’s trying to say, because he’s thinking it too.

You’re alright with me? With us?

“Yeah,” He says, grinning and pulling Jason closer, “I like having this. I like having you.”

“That’s a really gay thing to say,” Jason mumbles, putting his hands on Archie’s jaw, “That was really, really gay.”

Archie just smiles.

Jason kisses him, right there, in the middle of his room. It’s a slow kiss, gentle, barely more than lips grazing each other, but it sends flickers of electricity all through Archie. They separate for less than a second before they’re kissing again, long and sweet, holding onto each other.

That night, they stick close to each other. Archie kisses Jason’s forehead before dropping onto the couch to watch a movie, and when Jason gets up to make popcorn, Archie follows.

They don’t make it to making popcorn. Instead, Jason pushes Archie against the counter and devours him. It’s a mess of spit, teeth, tongue and lips, but instead of feeling disgusted, all Archie wants is more. His hands are dusted into Jason’s shirt, but he makes them relax, letting his fingers dip down towards the seam.

-

It feels like his chest is rotting. The grief, horrible and consuming, is eating Archie alive and all he can do is sit on a damp bathroom floor and cry. It makes anger burn at his fingers, but he can’t do anything.

He can’t do anything. Jason is gone. There’s nobody else to hold onto their memories but Archie.

Nobody would ever know. It’s right and wrong at the same time, and the feeling of it all is strong enough to make Archie’s stomach tumble.

Their life died with Jason.

Archie cries until he can’t cry anymore, until a headache is pounding at his ears. He reaches for his phone and calls the only number he can think of in a time like this.

Jughead’s there in minutes, kneeling down on the broken tiles and putting his hands on Archie’s shoulders, his voice echoing off the walls as he asks, “Archie?”

Archie just sobs, lurching forward. For the first time in months, his friend has his arms around him. Jughead’s eyebrows are knitted together in confusion, and concern, but he just holds on, rocking with Archie. His sobs fill the bathroom, loud, ugly, and hiccuping.

-

Archie wakes up first, sees the sunlight streaming across Jason’s face, and thinks, god, I never want this to end. 

**Author's Note:**

> Goodbye John Smith is one of the best grief songs ever. Someone wanted a Jason/Archie sleepover, so I obliged! Plus some emotional shit with Jughead, as always.


End file.
